Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

11 reviews

achay91's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Police brutality, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Classism, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

megelizabeth's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

This was very much a 'just okay' book for me. It deals relatively well with some important themes, and I enjoyed some of the developing relationships, but ultimately I struggled to really connect with the characters or the story. I also wasn't a fan of the writing style, and to me it really didn't feel authentic to the 90s setting (some reviewers have said that this highlights how things haven't really changed in that time, but I personally feel this message could have been achieved without sacrificing the sense of time).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Suicide, Death, Racism, Murder, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Homophobia, War, Sexual harassment, Blood, and Suicide attempt

ktdakotareads's review

dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Infidelity, Fire/Fire injury, and Death

Minor: Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicide, and Child abuse

alyrayj's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

evieolive's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Just as important as I expected but I was really happily surprised to see such flowery writing in a contemporary, I loved the style! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Infidelity, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Genocide, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Gun violence

Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Antisemitism, Slavery, Body shaming, Mental illness, Grief, Drug abuse, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

livinthebubble's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

I don't know how to rate this book. I went into it thinking I was going to love it. It wasn't a bad book, I read it really fast and was very interested to see how the character was going to change.
However, I hated the main character. The main character cheats with her best friend's boyfriend, her current best friends are the worst, she judges the black kids at her school, judges her sister for being into politics, etc. The change I had hoped to get only came about 100 pages from the end, and it wasn't that much of a difference. 
The only characters I enjoyed were the love interest, LaShawn, the nanny and the new friends. I actually wanted more of LaShawn. 
Overall, I am glad that I read this, it's an important read, especially with its similarities to last years protests.
A similar book that I felt this way was Full Disclosure.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infidelity

kyrstin_p1989's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book focuses on a part of history that no other book I’ve read has — the Rodney King trials and subsequent uprising in LA in the 90’s. It follows a Black teenaged girl who lives a financially privileged life. She and her all white friends go to a fancy private school that’s only 10 miles away from the heart of the unrest that follows the not guilty verdict in the King police brutality case. The main character, Ashley, learns about her family, history, and what it means to be Black in America from her sister, her uncle and cousin, and the few other Black students who go to her school. A coming of age story that incorporates what it must be like to be young and Black in America — across the span of history. The book, while set in the 90’s, has parallels that teenagers today can draw from to understand the world around them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, Genocide, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

ashleysbookthoughts's review against another edition

challenging hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

The Black Kids reminded me of The Hate U Give. It similarly follows a Black high school senior at a fancy, predominantly white, private school during a period of racial unrest. In this one, we follow Ashley throughout the LA Riots following the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King in 1992.

Unlike Starr in THUG, Ashley is from an affluent family. She does less overt code-switching and more trying to figure out her identity. The novel really follows Ashley’s journey from othering the other Black kids at her school and finding common ground, culture, and acceptance with them. It also follows her journey from being the token Black girl in white spaces, always careful not to be “too Black” to feeling more comfortable in her skin and making decisions about what’s really important. 

The book does a great job of capturing the uncertainty and identity conflict of adolescence while also making sharp criticisms of structural racism, microaggressions, and American society in general, without feeling preachy. It was slow in some parts, and got a little in the weeds with some details, but overall it was a great read. I definitely recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, and Infidelity

brookey8888's review

emotional funny informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I rounded this up because it’s so good, but the reason it isn’t just a five is I thought the writing style or the way it was written was a little weird. Like it would just jump to a flashback or like she was talking to us one or two times. Other then that this was so good. I really liked Ashley and the growth she went though. I liked  all the relationships she developed(family/friends/romantic). I like all that was discussed rather it was the heavier topics or just her growing up and being a teenager. I highly recommend this and can’t believe the 90s is now historical fiction. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

courtneyfalling's review

challenging emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was really tightly written, from the characters to their relationships to the overall plot. Lots of hard questions, no solid answers, but I feel like I'm going to keep thinking about this book for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Toxic friendship, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Police brutality, Suicide, and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Slavery